The earth's magnetic field is being shaken and that could disrupt everything from power grids to telephone service and airline flights.

"It's prudent at a time like this to reroute aircraft. We know that GPS and satellites are vulnerable and so they wind up skirting farther south trying to stay away from where the major numbers of particles happens to be," said Dr. Ed Krupp, director of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.

Potential problems are possible over the next 24 hours. However, the beautiful auroras produced by the solar flares, also known as the Northern Lights, could be visible for a month.

If the solar radiation from the storms reaches the level known as S-4, astronauts working on the International Space Station may need to take appropriate precautions from the heightened radiation levels.